It's just a little green dot, but ...
Knowing that someone whom you know, and with whom you are in semi-contact, is
online can make a subtle change in the way we sit in front of our computers. When
the dot next to a person's name changes to green we find ourselves asking - "should
I say hello?", "would I be disturbing?". And of course, we also
ask - "why aren't they saying hello to me?". After a while we learn
to simply accept the fact that being online at the same time doesn't require any
action - it's simply a state of being. Only rarely will either side feel offended
by not being contacted.
The situation, however, can be somewhat different when two
people are actually working on a joint project, when continual contact is
definitely called for. In a case such as this, when the dot goes green we know
that we can chat, and if we don't, then chances are good that one of the parties
doesn't want to acknowledge the other because ... well, because we haven't yet
attended to the writing/editing that we'd promised that we would. Then again,
this also means that a relatively insignificant little green dot can prod us (and
perhaps even embarrass us) into taking care of business.
Go to: How did we get here?, or
Go to: Virtual worlds, and real health.